Klopp urges Liverpool to ‘squeeze everything’ out of season after Madrid loss

Liverpool's hopes of winning silverware were all but snuffed out by their Champions League elimination but manager Juergen Klopp called on his side to “squeeze absolutely everything” from the remainder of the season as they chase a top-four finish.

Karim Benzema's second-half goal secured Real Madrid a comfortable 1-0 win over Liverpool in their last 16 second leg, wrapping up a 6-2 aggregate victory.

“If you want to win the competition, you have to be outstanding. We weren't tonight, so that's why it's then fair that we go out,” Klopp said.

Liverpool have been eliminated from the League Cup and FA Cup and are sixth in the Premier League on 42 points after a 1-0 defeat at relegation-threatened Bournemouth on Saturday.

“Our job is to squeeze absolutely everything from this season,” Klopp said.

“It's a strange one so far, just our recent two games — a sensational performance against Manchester United, a very good football team, and a really bad performance against Bournemouth, again a good football team but we should not lose that game.

“That put us again under more pressure. Three points, and I think everyone would have really felt it, smelt our breath if you like. There is distance again [to the top four] because other teams won their games.”

Liverpool face a tough stretch of games coming up when they travel to Manchester City and Chelsea before hosting leaders Arsenal in the span of nine days.

 Real into quarterfinals through Benzema's strike. Bidding for back-to-back Champions League titles and a record-extending 15th European crown, a disciplined Real seemed content to sit back against a tame Liverpool who carried little threat for most of the game.

Real spurned several opportunities to open the scoring as they looked to exploit Vinicius Jr’s speed on the counterattack but could not break the deadlock until late in the second half.

They sealed victory in the 79th minute when Vinicius flicked a loose ball inside the area to Benzema who tapped it into the empty net.

“There are no easy wins in the Champions League and it was a complicated match, but we showed from the beginning how serious we are in our desire to go far in the competition this season,” Benzema told Movistar Plus.

“Football today is about suffering, it's part of the sport we play. Everyone wants more. You always have to suffer. The important thing is to win and get through the next round.”

Also on Wednesday night, Napoli forward Victor Osimhen struck either side of the break to steer the Italians to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt and into the quarterfinals for the first time.

The 24-year-old Nigeria international, who also scored in their 2-0 win over Eintracht in Germany, scored with a header in first-half stoppage time.

Osimhen bagged his 23rd goal in 28 matches in all competitions this season with a tap-in after a quick four-pass Napoli combination in the 53rd minute before Piotr Zielinski converted a penalty to secure a 5-0 aggregate win.

Napoli are the third Italian team to advance to the quarters after Inter and AC Milan.

“It wasn't easy, but we managed to reach a historical goal for Napoli,” coach Luciano Spalletti said. “I hope we enjoy it now with the whole team and together with the fans.”

“It is important to have the attitude we had tonight. At the beginning we didn't have much quality, but we did well and didn't concede.”

“Osimhen is a very strong footballer. He is able to cut behind defenders, and now he is also playing more with the team, and we're happy.”

Before the game fighting broke out in the Italian city as fans set a police car on fire and threw stones at buses and police.

Italian authorities had banned German fans from attending the game amid concerns about possible violence, but some Eintracht supporters made the trip to Italy anyway.

It was peaceful inside the Diego Maradona stadium and the hosts were in control from the start.